Well, it's not wholly about preventing massacres by arming, the strongest argument is about an inherent cultural and historical right. It's the same with the Constitution - there's something inherent to the "American Identity" that suggests the Constitution as written (plus the Bill of Rights) is perfect. Most US Citizens could name the entire first ten amendments, but couldn't even begin with anything beyond the eleventh. The basic tenet in Southern States (and predominantly red states, to be honest) is that gun ownership is intrinsically American. The sooner they all secede and fuck off elsewhere, the sooner the rest of the US can go on about its business.

meme wrote:
Gun control doesn't wholly matter (though I do agree that it needs looking at at the federal level). It's gun culture that's the problem.

This. It's amazing that after god knows how many public massacres there still seems to be this collective opinion that the best way to prevent shit like this is to keep arming everyone.

More likely because any attempt to introduce gun control would be seen as a limitation of a constitutional right. There're so many hillbilly shitkickers in Arsehole Valley, Tennessee, who, in the face of any legitimate and reasonable attempt to make a safer country, would complain like fuck about their right to shoot stuff.

Conflicting reports coming out at the moment as to the number of shooters. The police confirmed one's dead inside the school and that the school location itself is secured, but several news sites are reporting that a manhunt is underway for a second gunman.

OmniaVincitAmor wrote:
Don't get the won't get re elected argument. Who gives a fuck? If it means saving childrens lives then change it. It could change the world. He has the power.

As far as I can tell, it's not down to a sense of proportionality and doing something for the greater good, but it's individual selfishness as having something taken away from them that they feel is an inalienable right.

bitch_tits_zero_nine wrote:
I think guns in America are the same as cigarettes here in that they're so culturally ingrained that they're unbanable. If 'unbanable' is a word.

The only reason they wont ban cigarettes here is because of the massive tax revenue. Same reason they'll never ban alcohol. Of course, over time cigarettes will fade away naturally (public opinion), alcohol wont.

Guns on the other hand... I just don't see how you could ever change America's opinion of them.

kalel wrote:
Although that said, by far the quickest win is to make guns significantly harder to get hold of.

That's part of the problem though, it's literally impossible to do so. Those who support guns already own them, and there's no fathomable way a bill to clamp down nationwide on gun sales will ever be passed. Short of going around everyone's house and confiscating their guns there's nothing that can be done about the guns already in the country and already owned. Even most states with automatic weapon bans have "grandfather" clauses that means they're basically legal if you owned them before the ban came to pass (it's really more complex than that, but that's the gist of it), because the ban wouldn't have been passed otherwise.